Tag: nutritional balancing recipe

Okay, I’ll start by saying this salad is DELICIOUS. However, even if this didn’t taste as great as it does, I would still force myself to eat it, because it is SO incredibly good for me! This is jam-packed with folate, which is great for anyone with the MTHFR gene mutation (which is surprisingly common! I have it, and it is estimated that about 50+% of the population has it!). Yeah, yeah, yeah, so it’s good for that, but it doesn’t end there!

I’ve been looking for ways to incorporate dandelion greens into my meals, because they are SO good for you! They have a bitter taste, so it can be hard to find meals that they go well with, but they lend themselves perfectly to this dish! The following pin links to a site that lists some great health benefits of these greens, and you will see why it is a good idea to incorporate these guys when possible!

Some of their health benefits are as follows.

high in calcium and iron

antioxidant packed

reduce risk of cancer, MS, cataracts, and strokes

high in minerals

extremely detoxifying and cleansing for the liver

And that just touches the surface! Between the cleansing properties of dandelion greens and the chelating properties of the cilantro, this is a great salad for cleansing your system!

So, I really don’t need to tout this salad anymore, because once you try it, the taste will be enough for you to want to keep trying it! the fact that it is SO good for you is just the icing on the cake!

COOKED GREENS AND CHICKEN SALAD

Ingredients: makes 3 servings

1 lb. chicken breast

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2 red onion, chopped

1/2 tsp. garlic powder, divided

sea salt, to taste

3/4 cup chopped cilantro

3 cups chopped dandelion greens

3 cups chopped kale (rough stems removed)

6 cups baby spinach

plain greek yogurt for serving, optional

Directions

1.) Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the chicken, and cook for 40 minutes.

2.) Remove the chicken from the pot and cut into bite size pieces. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes. Add the chicken, cilantro, and 1/6 of a teaspoon of garlic powder. Sprinkle with sea salt and cook until the chicken is slightly browned (about 5-7 minutes). Place the chicken on a plate and set aside.

3.) In the frying pan you just used, place the kale and dandelion greens over medium heat. Add 1/6 tsp. of garlic powder and sprinkle with sea salt. Cook until completely wilted. Add to the plate with the chicken.

4.) Once again, using the same pan, add the spinach to the pan and heat over medium heat. Add 1/6 tsp. of garlic powder and sprinkle with sea salt. Cook until the spinach is slightly wilted.

5.) Split the spinach up among three plates. Top with the chicken mixture, kale and dandelion greens that you set aside.

If desired, you can top this with some plain greek yogurt or sprinkle with a bit of lemon juice, but it’s great on it’s own too. This makes for a super easy meal, and as I explained, it is SOOOOO good for you! Enjoy! 🙂

I know I’m not the only one that loves stuffing on Thanksgiving day! Unfortunately, since I gave up gluten, it’s challenging to find a good recipe for it, since one of the main ingredients is bread! Kinda like the recipe that this pin links to!

Frick, that looks delicious! But, alas, it is full of gluten. 😦 I started thinking about the fact that there are so many ‘bread’ recipes that can be made using cauliflower instead of flour, such as cauliflower crust pizza, cauliflower bread sticks, cauliflower grilled cheese, etc. The list goes on and on, so I thought maybe I could come up with some sort of stuffing using cauliflower instead of bread, and guess what – it’s AWESOME! Totally tastes like delicious stuffing and not only is it gluten free, but it’s also REALLY good for you! Another great thing is that it’s easy to make, so let’s get to the recipe already!!!

HEALTHY GLUTEN FREE CAULIFLOWER STUFFING

Ingredients

3 Tbsp. coconut oil

1 red onion finely chopped

2 large carrots, peeled and finely chopped

2 large celery stalks, peeled and finely chopped

1 large leek, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 small head of cauliflower, chopped into tiny pieces

1 tsp. dried parsley

2 Tbsp. fresh chopped rosemary

1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh chopped sage

1/2 cup vegetable broth, chicken broth, or water

sea salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1.) Prepare all of your vegetables by finely chopping everything…the smaller the better. heat the coconut oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, and leek. Cook for 7-10 minutes until vegetables begin to sweat.

2.) Add the cauliflower, and cook for an additional 10 minutes.

3.) Add the parsley, rosemary, sage, and broth (or water). Cover and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes until the broth is completely absorbed, and the vegetables are completely tender.

4.) Transfer to a plate, and season with sea salt and pepper, to taste.

Would you believe me if I told you that I cooked dinner in 3.5 minutes tonight? Guys, it’s true!!! I recently bought a stovetop pressure cooker, and tonight was my first experience at giving it a try. I’m not going to lie…it was a bit terrifying, and once I put it on the heat to create the pressure, I may have went and hid behind a living room chair in fear that the pot would somehow explode, but we made it through injury-free, and the result was a delicious and QUICK dinner! I think that this is the start of a lifelong friendship between me and my pressure cooker!

Pressure cooking can be a bit intimidating at first, but once you do it once, you’ll see that it’s actually quite easy! I found the following pin on Pinterest that links to a site that has a very thorough list of cooking times for various types of food.

Before I got started, I had so many questions…can I cook the meat and veggies together? Do I have to do one type of food, then clean the cooker and do another type of food? Is the noise of the steam releasing going to hurt my ears? Will the food taste good? Will all the water evaporate and the pot explode? Is Harvard going to call me offering me an honorary PhD when I figure out how to use this thing? Are people all over the world going to want to be me?…you know, normal questions that people have about pressure cookers before they’ve used them. 😉

I started with something basic – chicken and veggies, and wow you guys – this chicken came out so tender and juicy, and the veggies were cooked to perfection! I just used brussels sprouts, carrots, and onion. Again, the cooking time was only 3.5 minutes, and I probably would have done better with just 2.5 – 3 minutes because my veggies and chicken were chopped, but I was scared that the chicken wouldn’t be cooked through if I went with the recommended time.

Okay, enough touting the pressure cooker – let’s get to the recipe and instructions. I should quickly mention that my pressure cooker is a stovetop model, not an electric model, so keep that in mind while going over the recipe!

PRESSURE COOKER CHICKEN AND VEGGIES

Ingredients: 2 servings

1/2 tsp. olive oil

1/2 white onion, chopped

3/4 lb. brussels sprouts, quartered

20 baby carrots, sliced in halves

2 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces

1 cup water

sea salt, for seasoning

Directions:

1.) Heat the olive oil in the bed of the pressure cooker over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the sea salt.

2.) Place the pressure cooker lid on the pressure cooker and lock into place. Increase the stove heat to high. Allow the pressure regulator to begin to gently rock back and forth/rattle. When it begins to do this, set the timer for 3 minutes, and let the food cook for these 3 minutes. At the end of the 3 minutes, carefully place the pressure cooker under running cold water until the pressure indicator drops and there is no pressure left in the cooker.

3.) Once you are sure there is no pressure left in the cooker, carefully remove the pressure cooker top, and observe the miracle of your food being cooked in a flash! Use a slotted spoon to transfer the chicken and veggies to a bowl or plate. Season with sea salt, and serve.

You can discard the leftover liquid, but even better, save it and use it as a soup broth, or even just drink it at another time – lots of good minerals in that water! I’m going to use mine in a soup I am making tomorrow night.

So, if someone were to ask me to think of two of the healthiest vegetables possible, it would be hard to narrow it down, but I can guarantee you that rutabaga and broccoli would be on the top of my list of possibilities! Check out the following pins giving good reason as to why these two veggies are two of my favorites!

See? Told ya so! 🙂 Anyway, with this in mind, I wanted to find a side that included these two delightful veggies. I’ve shared my recipe for mashed rutabaga before…after thinking about it, I figured, why not add in some broccoli and top it with a bit of shredded goat cheese and plain yogurt – best. decision. ever.

This stuff is REALLY yummy, and you just saw how packed with nutrients it is! Best part is that it is super easy to make! Let’s get to it!

MASHED RUTABAGA AND BROCCOLI

Ingredients

1 rutabaga, washed, peeled, and chopped into cubes

1 large bunch of broccoli, cut into florets

garlic granules

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt, plus more for topping

hard goat cheese for shredding

sea salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1.) Cover the rutabaga with water in a saucepan. Place over high heat and boil until very tender, about 10-15 minutes. While doing this, steam the broccoli in a steamer until tender.

2.) Place the cooked rutabaga and broccoli into a food processor. Add garlic granules (to taste) and 1/2 cup of plain yogurt. Process on high until it reaches your desired consistency.

3.) Transfer to a bowl, and top with shredded goat cheese and a dollop of plain yogurt.

Yum yum yum! Makes for a perfect lunch, or as a side dish paired with a baked chicken breast for dinner. Enjoy! 🙂